Connecticut western news., 1887-04-20

| from Warren, from Roxbury, and from Washington was secured in an unfair and improper manner, and we have the right to
 assume that the testimony from other places was obtained by the same means. It 1 has been represented to the good people of
 Warren, Roxbury and Washington that if this change were made, it would be neces-
 sary to have two high sheriffs, six county commissioners, and that Litchtield county in short time would become bankrupt. The opposition were unable to touch the
 pocket nerve of the people in Hartford or New Haven in that way, and perhaps this 1 is why those people are and have been ab- | sent. This is all there is in this case what does the public necessity and conven- fence demand? We have shown what these demands are, and no effectual denial
 or contradiction has been or can be made. Yet the opposition have rained upon this
 general assembly showers of fgules with which they desire to cover up the main is-
 sues of this case. One shower was rained in ' upon the Senate yesterday by E. W.Seymour 1 of Bridgeport, who undoubtedly holds old
 Litchfield Hill near to his heart. We do not
 blame him for standing up for old Litchfield
 Hill. Yet part of hls testimony in this hear ing is peculiar. He stated that his home was on Litchfield Hill but that he had moved his law office to Bridgeport. This he did, appar-
 ently, for the accommodation of his Litch- field county clients; for the people who
 live in the Housatonic and Naugatuck val
 leys can go to Bridgeport, 70 miles away,
 with greater ease and economy than to
 Litchfield Hill. He certainly could not
 have done more clever thing. You can
 naturally see the evils arising from this state
 of facts. Four towns in the southeastern
 part of the county go to New Haven coun- for [ &l,a% 0f thoir lar ni,Sin In Litchfield county our winter term has
 been frozen out. The work of the superior
 court, civil side, has been long transacted
 by committees. Many cases are not brought at all, but would be were this court located
 at some point accessible to the Iitigants. The docket of our court has been depleted. The business of our superior court has | been more or less demoralized by the loca-
 tion of the court at Litchfeld Hill. Judges,
 the litigating parties, the jurymen, the wit | nesses and everybody else who are compell- ed to go there suffer great inconvenience, | hardship, and in many instances pecuniary | loss. One thing, in this connection l de- | sire to call your attention to, and that is the facilities that Litchfeld county furnishes | for the transportation of its prisoners from
 its jail upon Litchfield Hill to the state | prison at Wethersfeld. Prisoners are load | ed in open wagons in gangs of fifteen or
 twenty and transported 35 or 40 miles
 across the hills and through the woods to
 the prison. Think of the facilities and J temptations offered to prisoners to escape,
 after they have been tried, convicted and
 sentenced And here let me say that I un-
 derstand that Ex-Sheriff Porter went away
 from here believing that he had had refiec-
 tions cast upon him in his eross-examina-
 tion. have always believed that he was
 one of the bravest and truest officers Litch- l field county ever knew, and it was not my
 intention in the least to cast any reflection
 upon him when spoke of the escape of Q
 great desperado. The whole purpose of
 my reference to that event was not to criti-
 else the conduct of any officer having the
 prisoner in charge, but to show the insufh.
 ciency of the facilities afforded in the re- 1 moval of dangerous criminals from Litch
 field Hill to Wetherstield, removals made
 by wagon loads so that the officers of the
 law might be overtaken and overpowereG
 by ,accomplices of the men they had il
 charge. myself felt somewhat indignant
 when remembered the escape referred to-
 for had imperiled my own life to get {
 man sentenced to state prison. One of my
 neighbors was shot down like dog by thu
 man who escaped.
 Our friends from Litchfeld Hill are care
 full to prove one fact for us, that there i
 no one place in Litchfeld county tha
 can better accommodate the county thar
 Litchfield Hill. This is true. There arr 20, 900 people in the Housatonic valley ant
 "A ,OOO in the Naugatuck valley. We can
 not locate the Superior court and the coun ty jail in the Naugatuck valley because tn 20 1000 people in the Housatonic valley d.
 not want to go into the Naugatuck valle,, and back again. Nor do the 24 ,OOO peopl ) in the Naugatuck valley want to go int } the Housatonic valley and return. Neithe , of these plans will answer. So we ar ) agreed upon this point; and we accept it a important in our case-that there is no on point now in the county that will accommo } date the people of the county except Litch field and therefore l appeal to you if it l ) not proper that we should have that whicl we really need for our accommodation. l
 this cannot be done on Litchfeld Hill ,thei we should be allowed to have that accom- modation in two places.
 If this change be made how will the pee pie of the county be accommodated Tn 3 opposition have been trying to belittle tn 3 business of New Milford, but inasmuch a 3 they have been belittling the business c . their own town, that is nothing strange Canaan, next to the Massachusetts stat 3 line, is the most distant town on the Hous f atomic railroad from New Milford, and tha 5 is but an hour away. We can go from th ] very extreme northern limit of the Housf ) tonic valley to New Milford, remain seve y hours, and return home the same day, an r do it all by rail. Winchester is in th northeast part of the county. It will at U commodate the entire northeastern part ( f the county, with a population of "A, ,OO( @ Thomaston is the most distant point on th r Naugatuck railroad on the south. and tht 8 is but three-quarters of an hour from Vii l chester. People can go to Wincheste = from Thomaston with five trains daily, r d main there, six or seven hours, and retur D home at night This is quite an importal
 item, and you all know it if you have tra7 c eled through these mountainous town ;- Therefore, if this change be made, the 20 l. 900 people in the HousatQnic valley an d the 24, 900 people in the Naugatuck valle v can go in the rain or mud, in snow or blint y ing storm, in heat or in dust, with equ' # ease and comfort. This means that we a is to be placed upon an equal footing with u IT rest of the State. We have breasted storn IS and gone over those old mountains lo1 J. enough Let us come down to the railroat W and enjoy the blessings resulting ther y from.
 d You may have noticed, gentlemen, u o uncommon earnestness of many of u n witnesses who have appeared before you IS support of the pending bill and may al l. have observed at times the zealous enth J. siasm of the attorneys who have been he d in the same behalf. This exhibition of fet